A Salute to Our Canine Sleuths

Our Canine Sleuths are always by our side, meet Babu & Babe–the star brother- sister duo. Babu a five-year-old Labrador Retriever won a ‘gold medal’ for being the best tracking canine at the All India Police Duty Meet 2018 while Babe bagged ‘bronze medal’ in explosives detection. Born on 27th April 2014, the brother and sister Labrador Retrievers joined Delhi police at the age of two. They came from Meerut Cantonment after completing their training at the BSF’s National Training Centre for Dog at Tekanpur in Madhya Pradesh. Babu is known for visiting the most grievous crime spots, Babe, on other side, is busy leading a dog squad who sanitise routes for VIPs like the Prime Minister, the President and other dignitaries, on special occasions.
When duty calls, each and every canine sleuth is a super hero- tracking crimes, narcotics, explosives, routine checks on public spaces, etc. According to latest reports, there has been an increase in Services Dogs across India. Delhi Police is planning to increase their dog squad. The present strength of the squad is 60 dogs and they are planning to induct 100 more furry investigators to augment the fleet. The CISF (Central Industrial Security Forces) and National Security Guards (NSG) have also been recommended by a panel to recruit our indigenous Mudhol Hound breed of dogs from Karnataka. According to reports, the CISF currently has 470 dogs.
Seeing to the increase in calls for service dog, the Mumbai Police, who have Labradors and Dobermans, have recruited the first batch of five Belgian Malinois police dogs, who will be handled by an all woman squad. Belgian Malinois as a breed world over are known for their intelligence and sharp sense of smell.
The Maharashtra Police housing corporation has undertaken a project to develop a state-of-the-art training centre at Daud near Pune a fourteen acre plot which will have 50 kennels. Currently there are 341 dogs across the state working and also patrolling the Naxalite-affected areas. The popular breeds being Dobermans, German Shepherds, Labradors and Belgian Milionis.
Maharashtra is among the few states in the country that has come up with regulations on how to assign dogs within the force. The canine cops are assigned their duties depending on the topography of the district, number of police stations in it and nature of crimes reported. More furry explosive detectors are posted to sensitive cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Aurangabad.
Protection we get from our furry protectors is priceless. They undergo proper and rigorous training and when at work, depending on the crisis, they work long hours. A mandatory question here to ask—What happens to them when they retire? According to earlier news some are given up for adoption – but again, how many people are open to adopting senior service dogs? In some cases, the handler takes the service dog home. Dogs develop strong bonds the moment you are with them—it is indeed a very important part for the government states to also take care of them in their senior phase for their loyalty, service and love which is beyond compare.
A big salute to all our dogs who are in service….keep healthy and keep wagging….For interaction, fun and daily dose of information, connect with us on our ‘Facebook’ /Dogsandpupsmag having more than 600,000 Likes . We are happy to share and care!
Shweta
shweta@dogsandpupsmagazine.com